


The Chronicles of Andria Payne

by Minya_Mari



Category: Original Work
Genre: A lot of them - Freeform, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-20 21:15:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minya_Mari/pseuds/Minya_Mari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andria Payne is your average 22 Century gal; moved out of home young because her elder sister couldn't afford her, is going to one of the best Universities in Australia, and doesn't quite know what the thing between her and her best friend, Eugene, is. But when she and her younger sister, Norah, get caught up in a rebel organisation for TK's and EM's, she's in for one hell of a ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chronicles of Andria Payne

**Author's Note:**

> Hold your hats people, 'cause I don't even know where this thing is headed.  
> You've been warned. Enjoy!

'Andy!'

I turned on my heel and was nearly toppled over by a small body latching onto my shins. I did try to save myself the pain of landing on my backside, but said little body would have fallen over—so, like a good big-sister, I fell back and brought Norah into my lap. I let out a breathless laugh as she showered me with kisses.

'Hello, little hippy.' I greeted, and she grinned happily.

My oldest sister, Audrey, must have dressed her in one of my old dresses- it was a yellow, flowy thing that dragged in the dirt for Norah, who was much smaller than I was at her age. My sister clutched a straw hat in her left hand while her other supported her weight against my upper arm.

'Do I get to go to your house, sissy?' she asked, cocking her golden head to the side.

I smiled softly. I'd moved out of home at sixteen, partly because my elder sister could afford it, and partly because I wanted to go to the Collage/University at Sydney since I'd been about three.

'If it's alright with 'Drey.'

Speaking of Audrey, she was recently married, had long since moved into her spouse's house, and had gone through IVF to get pregnant. Gwyn, her wife, was lovely and whenever Audrey and I would take turns with sitting Norah, she would dote upon her.

I got to my feet and lifted Norah into my arms as Audrey called out from the front porch.

'You're finally here?'

My oldest sibling stood on the front steps, her dark hair dishevelled and a scowl on her face. Though we looked alike, and shared the same features, I wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as my sister. As people had told me before.

Many times.

'Hey, Audrey. Good morning to you too.' I greeted with just a hint of sarcasm.

Audrey caught it of course, with a roll of her eyes, and smiled warmly.

'It's nice to see you, Andria.' She said, and hugged me as tightly as she did when I was little. Audrey pulled away, and ushered me in before tucking Norah under the chin. 'Come on in. And you, little missy, have gotten your dress all dirty.'

Norah ducked her head and giggled against my shoulder. I smiled at her.

'Naughty little munchkin,' I scolded lightly.

We walked in and I set Norah on the ground. She, of course, immediately ran off to the tiny backyard for her toys, her sandal-clad feet pattering loudly on the wooden floors.

Audrey slowly sank onto the couch.

'So did you finally move in with that boy of yours?' her tone was teasing, and she rested her hands gently on her swelling stomach.

I scowled at her.

'He's not my boy, just my friend.'

She snorted, a smirk gracing her lips.

'We'll see how long that lasts.'

I snorted right back.

'I'll choose to ignore that comment,' I muttered. 'But yes, I did.'

The rent went up a month ago and I couldn't keep up.

"Keeping up" meaning that I had to pay at least three hundred a week, and my job did not pay that much after tax and other bills had had a go at the money.

Since then, I'd been shifting from Audrey's house to Amon's. While Audrey owned her house, Amon was still only renting a place and needed the help to pay said rent, with which I won't name the price. Even though I'd said we were just friends, I _didn_ _'_ _t_ know exactly what we were. And if I got to live in a flashy Sydney apartment, I wasn't going to complain. Everyone lived on top of each other now, meaning that there were two houses within spitting distance on either side of Audrey's and a road barely three metres from her front door. The 'backyard' Norah was so fond of was technically only a patio with a garden, but hey, she wasn't complaining.

'Everything is so bloody expensive nowadays,' I muttered and leant against the doorway to the kitchen, letting my eyes roam over the fridge. There were pictures stuck to the white door of it; one from when all of us had gone swimming that one summer; it'd been way too hot and we'd only been at the jetty an hour before Audrey had said that we had to leave for home.

I'd had wicked sunburn for a week afterwards.

I crossed my arms and sighed. 'You don't mind if I drop Norah off when work starts back, do you?'

Audrey frowned, but nodded.

I licked my lips.

'It's just that Uni starts at around that time too, and there won't be ̶̶ ̶̶̶ ̶'

'It's okay, kiddo. I'll take her.'

I let out a breath. 'Thanks.'

'Sissy! Sissy! Look!' Norah's child-pitched voice exclaimed from the back of the house. Audrey went to get up, but I held up a hand.

'I'll go see, don't strain yourself.'

Audrey snorted. 'I'm pregnant, not dying. But thanks.'

I rolled my eyes and went to find my little sister. The sight I found was not what I was expecting

… actually I don't think I'd ever have expected it at all.

Norah was grinning at me, and pointing to where a small orb of flame floated just out of her reach. It was blue-hued and alive. It pulsed like it had a heartbeat, and I knew automatically that that heart belonged to Norah.

I blinked.

This could not be happening. Norah wasn't a fire-starter; I'd have figured it out before if she was. The government would have taken her from me and Audrey and mum and dad years ago if they'd detected it when she was born. They always did.

Obviously they hadn't, and she was.

'Norah!' I cried, and lifted her into my arms. The flame snuffed out as soon as I had my hands on her, and she looked at me with wide, confused, honey-brown eyes.

'Did I do something wrong?' she asked.

I tucked her golden hair from her face.

'No, honey. No, you didn't do anything.'

Norah did not look convinced, but settled in my arms anyway. I glanced quickly around the backyard's boundary, hoping that no one saw, and not one person was there.

I yanked open the back door, a sick feeling settling in my stomach.

'Audrey!' I called, pulling Norah closer to me. She could most likely feel the erratic beating of my heart and see the scared look on my face, but I didn't want to let her out of my arms yet.

'Yeah?' Audrey called back from where she was starting to stand. Her blue eyes widened at my distress. 'Andy? What's wrong? What happened?'

I opened my mouth a few times, trying to come up with words. Finally I settled with, 'Did you know that Norah is a fire-starter?' The look on her face said that she did. Anger ran through my bones like something living. 'How dare you?'

Audrey's face crumpled with some kind of emotion.

'I-' she started, but I spoke over her.

'How dare you keep this from me!'

Audrey paused, and then her face turned into a scowl.

'Andria, I did it to protect her, no harm was intended. If the wrong people heard of this—'

I snorted. 'The wrong people? Speaking of which how doesn't the government know about her?'

Norah fidgeted in my arms. 'Can you please not fight?' she asked me, then rested her forehead against my shoulder. 'It's getting hot.'

I paused, no it wasn't. It was the usual, cool winter's morning. I turned my head to look at her. She was staring off into space, something she did regularly, but at that moment, it was discerning.

Audrey was watching her too. 'Norah, baby. Who's here?' she asked.

I frowned. 'What?'

Audrey waved my question away and repeated hers to Norah. Norah refocused on us again, her face pale as ash.

'The Bad Man is nearly here.' She hid her face in the crook of my neck, and I- completely confused, I might add- held her close.

'Who's here, Norah? Who's the bad man?' I asked softly.

Audrey's face conveyed a whole mixture of feelings; shock, fear and lastly sadness. She waddled about the house for a good ten minutes then, before she answered me. Audrey handed me a bag full of Norah's stuff.

She licked her lips. 'Andy,'

I snapped my eyes to hers. She came forward and handed me her phone. 'I need you to keep this, okay? And I need you to leave now. You need to get away before that man comes here with other agents.'

I turned the phone over once, a small, grey box of a phone. An _actual_ phone; not the usual ear-devices, but a holdable, square _mobile_.

 _Out of date by at least six years_ , I thought with a touch of sarcasm.

'Why this?' I held it up, genuinely confused.

Audrey gave me the keys to the old Ford. 'Just press the ring button if trouble comes up, or if you get out of the city safely.'

I didn't like the fact that she'd said 'if' instead of 'when', like she didn't think we'd make it.

'But I have my keys-'

'You can't, they know it's yours. Dad's old car hasn't been used in years and it'll take them a while to figure out who owns it.' She gave me a kiss and a hug. 'Now go!'

'But what about you and Gwyn?' I asked as she walked me and Norah to the car.

Audrey just smiled as she placed Norah in the front seat as I placed my bag in the back.

'We'll be fine, I promise.'

I knew she was lying, and that as soon as the agents figured out we were gone they'd come after her, and subsequently Gwyn. Not to mention their unborn baby, my soon-to-be niece or nephew.

'But...' I vainly tried to argue.

Her voice was unyielding and uncompromising as steel.

'Go.'

I started the car and Audrey waddled back to the house, her eyes scanning the street for trouble. I pulled out of the driveway and started for the highway.

Norah was silent in the passenger seat, staring out the window aimlessly, letting her honey eyes drift as things swizzed past. I turned the heater up for something to do.

'Are you okay, baby?' I asked her, flicking my eyes to her still form.

Norah nodded slowly, then blinked, seeming to come back to her present situation.

'You're gonna have to use that mobile big-sissy gave you.'

My fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

'How do you know that, Norah?'

Norah frowned over at me, as if it were strange that I didn't know. 'I can hear them.'

I swallowed, and was about to ask just who she could hear, but turned my eyes back to the road as the light went green. I figured I'd drop in on Eugene; he was one of the few people that weren't part of my small family that I'd trust with my life. I ran a hand over my face. And just two thoughts decided to make themselves known. What the _actual_ fuck? What was happening?

'Who can you hear?' I asked my little sister, not sure if she was just psychotic or did actually have the ability to read minds- it had been recorded before, so I couldn't rule it entirely out.

Norah's breathing sped up enough that I could hear it, rough and quick. 'Those people from before,' was all she said before spacing out again.

So my older sister pretty much palmed off our younger sister to me on the bases that there was a 'bad man'. Though it was very possible that said bad man and people were the secret agents the government sent out to take the TK's and EM's - Telekinetics and Elementals respectively- it just wouldn't happen to me, right?

It couldn't. And how did Norah know about them anywho?

Norah squirmed in her seat, she looked so small. She sighed and reached for the air-con.

'It's too hot.'

I stopped her hand. 'No it's not, Norah. It's cold. Do you have a fever?' I reached over to feel her cheeks and forehead. She pushed my hand away after a moment.

'I'm not the one who's sick, sissy.'

My brow furrowed as she stared at me intently.

'What do you mean, baby?'

I think the fact that I was taking medical advice from a five-year-old should have triggered the 'something's-wrong' alarm that my brain was known for ringing. But, of course, it didn't.

Norah felt my cheeks like I'd done to her. 'You're changing.' She told me seriously, her eyes guarded.

Changing? What?

We pulled up in front of Amon's apartment block, six hours later, when I blacked out.

'What happened?' The first voice was rough and deep; worry tinging the man's tone.

'She's sick. Little-mum's waking up.' Norah's voice was matter of fact, and I blinked blurrily to proper consciousness. Amon was kneeling in front of me and Norah toddled over with a plastic cup full of orange juice.

Amon helped me sit up slowly, even still, the world spun like a spinning-top in my view.

'Whoa,' I complained, and leaned into his grip. After a few seconds the world tilted back to its usual angle and I spoke. 'And to your earlier question, Eugene, I passed out.'

Amon rolled his grey eyes. 'Might be a stupid question… but why?'

I rolled my eyes back. 'Yes, it really was.' I told him, shifting back to rest my head on the back of the couch. I pursed my lips. 'Ah, I don't know. I just did.'

Norah handed the juice to Eugene who handed it to me. 'Here,' his face still held a small amount of anxiety, and I took the drink gingerly; careful not to spill it.

'Thanks,' I sipped at it. Tangy sweetness burst on my tongue, and I instantly downed half the glass before I could stop myself.

Eugene nodded and stood; the worry seeming to slip off his body as he stretched.

'So, are you going to tell me what actually happened and why you're here so early,' he looked over at Norah and my stomach sunk; did he know? 'Or am I going to have to guess?'

I sighed and glared at the dew running down the sides of the cool plastic and onto my fingers.

'You know I trust you,' I told him softly, my blue orbs flicking up to his face on their own accord. 'But, Mr Amon, I don't know if I can trust you with this.'

Eugene Amon pursed his lips and considered my words to see if there was any hidden meaning. Men were simple creatures, and more often than not managed to piss off their female counterparts by not thinking things through enough; but luckily for Eugene, my words only meant one thing.

'So I'm guessing then,' he muttered and sat down in front of me on the small coffee table. 'You've murdered someone?' he asked lightly, but his eyes watched my face for any sign that I'd _actually_ done what he'd asked.

I shook my head, my hair falling into my face. 'Nope.'

He absently reached over to tuck it back into place behind my ear. When he moved his hand away, I drank the rest of the orange juice.

'So you _didn_ _'_ _t_ kill anyone, but you _did_ drive like a manic with little Norah in the car?' he asked sceptically. 'What happened for you to just up and leave for Sydney the second you got to Mudgee?'

I bit my lip and stood on uncertain legs before shuffling over to Eugene's kitchen to put the empty cup in the sink.

I heard him sigh behind me. 'Do I have to ask Norah to get an answer?'

Norah was singing on the couch with her toys in her lap. Loudly. Either she just happened to be singing one of my favourite songs, or she was purposefully blocking us out.

I suspected the latter.

I giggled and turned around, the head-spin gone.

'I don't think you'll get a better answer out of her than me,' I muttered. 'She doesn't even know what she did.'

Amon's grey eyes narrowed suspiciously. '"What she did"?'

I nodded and reached for his hand, clasping it tightly in my own. 'She's a TK, Jennie. Or at the very least a fire-starter.' I said softly, using an old nick-name I knew he hated and had since the day we'd met and I couldn't pronounce his name. I dropped my eyes from his to run them over Norah's form worriedly, even though there was nothing wrong with my little sister at all.

Eugene's finger's tightened around mine, and he tensed. 'A TK? How do you know?'

I felt a nervous flutter begin in my stomach and my next words came out with a tremor.

'She started a fire.' I didn't need to elaborate on which type or _how_ , Eugene was like that.

Eugene pulled me close suddenly, but I welcomed the embrace. He kissed my hair, and I rested my cheek against his jumper-swathed chest. This familiarity was what I'd had from him since I was eight, and there was only so much social interaction you can have with your sisters until it becomes unbearably repetitive. He still even managed to make his words to come out light, cheeky. 'She could just be a Fire-Starter, Andy. She might not be a TK, after all, did you ever hear of a Telekinetic who could start fires with their minds?'

I felt irrational tears sting at my eyes.

'Then she might be an EM.' I whispered miserably. Eugene guided me back to the couch, but my fingers didn't seem to want to part with the fabric of his shirt. 'What am I going to do?'

Norah tapered off with her song and shifted next to us so she could look at me.

'They're nearly here.' She murmured her eyes far off; like she was looking _through_ me.

Eugene's brow furrowed. 'Who's coming?'

I shook my head. 'She's been repeating the same thing for a while now.' I told him.

Norah didn't look at him or me as she muttered. 'The phone, you're gonna need the phone big-sissy gave you.'

Amon's features turned more and more confused as she rambled. I, on the other hand, jerked to life and leapt from Eugene's lap, whispering under my breath 'Phone, phone'. I searched the entire contents of Norah's bag before I remembered and felt the mobile in the front pocket of my jeans. _Stupid_.

Eugene started to stand, but I waved a hand to still him.

'Hang on,' I told him and fished out the phone. I took a good look at it; it wasn't anything special, but then neither was I ̶̶̶ and look what was happening. Sirens sounded from the street outside, and I shared a panicked look with Eugene.

Norah started wailing, and I picked her up, pressing her close until she stopped.

'Ring them,' she sobbed into my shoulder, and I pressed the little green button. It didn't ring per say, the screen just flashed frantically for a second or two, then went black.

I breathed in.

Norah stopped completely in her crying and simply stared.

'So this is supposed to be the thing that saves us?' I asked sarcastically and turned to glance at Amon. Norah wiggled in my arms until I put her down. She curled up into a little ball on the couch, her long blonde hair creating a blanket that pushed out the rest of the world and its' worries.

Eugene was already up and looking out onto the street from behind a curtain.

'There are some cops outside,' he told me, a touch to his tone that said "Oh, hey, look ̶ that's weird, I wonder why I never noticed before". I shuffled over to his side and peeked out.

'Only a few,' I muttered back, a small ironic smile worming its way onto my lips. The roads were blocked off and the blue-white police cars littered the driving lanes, the actual cops milling about; trying to keep the public from the general area of the building we were in. I watched as a man in a neat-looking suit stepped out of a slim, black Saab. I couldn't see his face properly, only dark hair, but I could hear him damn-near perfectly from the open window.

'Get in there as quickly as possible.' He ordered, authority lacing his words as he bit them out. 'We need this over and done with.'

I backed up from the window, the strongest sense of déjà vu I'd ever experienced hitting me roughly. I _knew_ him. I _knew_ his voice. I turned back to Norah, who already seemed to know what I was going to do; her little Dora the Explorer bag on her back, her amber eyes guarded.

'Hold onto something sissy,' she said in a curiously flat voice. Just as I did as she said, the building rocked, and I heard screams from outside.

'Norah, come here!' I called for her, and Eugene blocked me from the glass shards as the window shattered from a force outside. The yelling outside was nearly wisped away by the yowling of the wind. While something in the lower levels of the building, or maybe even the earth, were slowly rocking the tall apartment block, the harsh wind was pushing it further still, until the room felt like it was on a slight angle.

Glass fell into my hair and left scratches and shallow cuts on my face and arms, even though Eugene got the brunt of it. _Well,_ I thought in dark humour. _Good luck to that man getting in here now_.

Good luck to _us_ trying to get _out_.

The air rushed in, whipping my hair wildly around my face. I heard Amon swear colourfully and push me away from the now broken window and towards where Norah had tucked herself behind the couch.

'Eddie! You _idiot_!' A female voice screeched from outside the window. Said woman came flying through and onto the glass covered ground about two seconds after. She let out a small, startled yelp, and narrowly escaped landing on her face; the air seemed to hold her upright with gentle hands, and she let out an annoyed huff as she rocked back on her feet.

The girl sized Amon up with a glance, but her eyes focused on me. 'You found her then?' she asked, and it took a moment for me to realise that she was talking to Eugene. When my mind did finally catch up with the fact that the girl who had just flown through a window ̶̶ ̶ ̶who knew Eugene ̶̶ ̶ ̶ was talking about me, I threw an accusing glare at Amon.

The girl was a tiny thing, and couldn't have been out of high school. But all the same, her face held a type of seriousness that usually only adults wore. But then she smiled brightly, the smile lighting her entire face up. 'Hi,' she greeted genuinely happy. 'You have no idea how happy we are that they didn't get to you first.' She told me, her face darkening slightly, before lighting up like Christmas again. 'Oh, and by " _we_ " I mean Edmond and me and everyone else in my organisation.' She paused. 'Just to clear any confusion you have.'

I nervously fiddled with the ring on my left middle finger. 'Um… hello?'

Eugene warily glanced at my impassive face before offering the girl a grateful smile.

'Thanks, Eve.'

Eve waved off his comment with a dainty hand.

'Please,' she told him, a smirk making itself known. 'How 'bout we just add this to the list of how many times I've saved your ass, hmm?' She turned her smile onto me. It was a contagious thing, her grin. Because I was smiling back before I knew it. 'And we'd best get going before that guy makes it up here with the soldiers,' she warned, glancing around the room as if they were already there. 'Or else this'll just be a waste of time and become a major pain in the ass for Horgan.'

Eugene nodded and reached for Norah, who willing went to him.

' _Can_ you get us down?' he asked Eve. She nodded her dark head, a brow rising on her face.

'I'm offended that you think so little of me, Eugene.' Her voice carried a note of light-hearted teasing. Something that had my hackles rising in annoyance. 'Of course I can, stupid. Just you wait and see; I've been training with Susie.'

Her slanted eyes filled with concentration and the world tilted. It was like the world no longer held me in place, like gravity had somehow turned off; and I let out a surprised yelp as my body began to rise to the roof.

'What the hell?' I asked, my hands failing about to grab hold of something. Though my body seemed to know what this feeling was, and orientated itself within second—I was freaking out, and the strongest thought in my mind was _; it_ _'_ _s just like Peter Pan_.

Amon and Norah had slipped through the window, but Eve and I still remained.

She held out a hand to me and I clasped it as if it were a lifeline. Eve grinned at me. 'Cool isn't it?'

I nodded. 'Sure as hell.' I agreed.

She pulled me to the window. 'C'mon.'

Eugene was on the ground, Norah still in his arms, and a man that looked about my age stood protectively in front of them. He was blonde, very blonde, and built like a brick shit-house.

Eve's demeanour changed at the sight of him. 'Eddie, watch out!'

A soldier had his gun aimed at him, and Eddie turned to face the man. Eve tugged on my hand to pull me out of the way as the apartments swayed dangerously again.

'Shit!' she swore and took us up higher and away. About three hundred feet away from the ground _away_.

The building began to fall apart, and I heard the shouts and screams for people to get away. Eddie stood fast though; I watched as the building slid away from him and Eugene, the rubble landing on a few people, and I shut my eyes tightly at the screams.

Eve pulled us to the ground and gravity held me again, keeping me in place. I linked hands with Amon, the pressure of his fingers comforting.

'Are you okay?' he asked, head bent close to mine. I nodded, and reached over to Norah, who glanced quickly down at me before flicking her eyes back up at Eve.

Eddie's face was stern, and the ground shook again.

That was when it clicked; he was controlling the earth-quakes. But he couldn't control the mess that the bends in the tectonic plates caused.

'Eddie!' Eve hollered at the top of her lungs, and he bolted for us. A tall, lean boy appeared on my left and placed an equally long hand on my elbow. At first I thought that maybe he'd been one of the pedestrians, but as I turned to him, all I saw was Eve. Albeit a much taller, more masculine version of her.

Eve bounded past us, latching onto her twin's arm and dragging him with her to a van. Wait, _correction_. A heavy-duty, built-to-resemble-a-rock, van. I took Norah from Amon and lifted her into the body, then he gave me a helping push into the van. He slid in next to me with an ease that told me he'd somehow done all this before.

He'd lied to me.

For _years_.

So when he reached for my hand, I crossed my arms and glared at the metal roof. It was so childish I nearly laughed at myself.

I don't know how we managed to get out of there, but we did. And, at some point in the night, I fell asleep to the constant hum of the van's engine.

* * *

I woke to the sensation of falling, and yelling of deep bass voices. My whole body was numb, tingling like I'd just had an electric shock, and I couldn't brace myself.

My shoulders connected with something solid first, the side of my skull following soon after, jolting me to full consciousness.

My eyes flung open wide and I gasped in sharply at the pain jabbing down the side of my face.

'Andy!'

Eugene's voice was near to my left, but he wasn't the one who'd been carrying me.

I dragged a sluggish hand to the side of my face, and touched it tenderly. 'Ouch,'

Eddie, I thought, stood crouched in front of me. Well, more like hovered, guilt written all over his face. I smiled weakly at him. 'Are you the one that dropped me?' I asked him quietly, and he nodded. 'Help me up at least?'

Eddie shook his head quickly and scratched the back of his head, standing up properly and away from me.'I can't.'

I frowned, and Amon placed a hand on my arm and one on my hip; lifting me to my feet and letting me rest my weight against him. I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him, but was too tired to care.

'What? Why?'

'You gave me some sort of electric shock.'

Eve's hyena laugh bounced around the white walls of the hallway we stood in. 'I knew it!' she cried, bounding over to us with as much enthusiasm as she'd had at the apartment. She stopped before Eugene and I abruptly, a grin stretching her face. 'You're a TK!' she told me, so sure of her words. But then Eve paused. 'Or at least something stronger than a fire-starter to be able to pinch Edmond like that.'

Pinch? What?

'TK?' I asked stupidly, sure that my tired brain had caught the words wrong. Amon's posture changed, and he began to lead me away from them without a word.

'Hey! You can't just hog her to yourself! Eugene!' Eve's tone was exasperated, but she quieted down quickly, and soon it was just the sound of my and Amon's footsteps as we went in the opposite direction.

I dug my heels into the smooth stone floor, and when Amon finally let go, I rounded on him. 'What's happening?' My voice warbled and I crossed my arms over my middle. 'What's wrong with me?'

Amon smiled lopsidedly at me. 'Quite a few things,' he said softly, 'but nothing new that I know of comes to mind.' He paused and eyed the side of my face, his hands coming up to cradle the side of my head that hurt. 'Well, except for this massive, rapidly-forming bruise. Other than that there's nothing.'

'Amon!'

Eugene let me go, and I missed the warmth of his hands. I shivered.

'Norah's with Susanne; the 'baby sitter' of sorts here.' Amon told me lightly. He pulled out a card and swiped it once. 'She's just getting a check-over, in case there are any cuts or bruises that need tending to.'

The door slid open soundlessly, adding to the eeriness of the place. I didn't move, and Eugene scowled. 'If you come in here and get dressed out of the clothes you're wearing and into new ones, get something to eat or even just get some sleep, I'll tell you what you want to know.' It was my turn to scowl, but I was tired; so much so that I was having a hard time concentrating on his words and not the brightness surrounding us. 'C'mon, Andy.' He half complained, half pleaded. 'You're tired. Can't you be mad at me tomorrow?'

My half-hearted scowl turned into a glare.

'No.' I snapped, suddenly able to focus perfectly. 'But you will explain _everything_ tomorrow.' With that I stomped past him, well past trying to act adult. Sometimes whining like a child was necessary to keep your sanity, and it slowly ate at the other person's.

Win/win situation, really.

I didn't even bother to shrug out of my clothes, only paused to kick off my loosely tied sneakers and collapsed onto the double bed; dead to the world.


End file.
